Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Humanity needs to change course

The existential predicament of man is usually approached and analysed in two ways. The first is to examine the personal, social, political and economic circumstances that contribute to it and theorise on possible solutions. Many of the theories advanced are at best ad hoc rationalisations drawn from skewed perceptions of human behaviour. In practical terms, they are of little value. Further, the real villain is not the ‘circumstances' but the human mind, which is what creates endless problems.

At another level, neither the philosopher who pursues Truth, nor the religious teacher who offers to reveal Truth, nor the spiritualist who promises to lead us on to wisdom is likely to carry conviction because man's afflictions demand instant remedy and cannot brook any delay. The troubles stem from man's “over-worldliness”, with the human consciousness being unable to extricate itself from the shackles of the external world. When the scientist started peering into matter, searching for laws that governed its working, he began unleashing vast energies. He was not concerned with the ethics, good or bad, and it became the lot of the turbulent mind to make the choice. An objective, detached choice-making is difficult when the mind is not free from baser passions. The mind having created the demons is not going to destroy them. In the words of Einstein, the problem that man creates with his mind he cannot solve with the same mind. The “superficial mind”, as Aurobindo calls it, has grown to such dimensions that it has begun to wreck the fabric of harmony and happiness.